substitutes' bench. Blanc was suspended following his semi-final red card and his place in the French team was taken by Frank Leboeuf. Otherwise, France named an unchanged team. Match First half France kicked off the match at 9 p.m. local time, in front of an attendance of 75,000 and an estimated global television audience of 1.7 billion. The weather at Charles de Gaulle Airport, from the stadium, was recorded as fair at the time of kick-off, with a temperature of and 50% humidity. France had a chance to score in the opening minute, when the ball was passed upfield towards Stéphane Guivarc'h, who attempted a bicycle kick which went over the cross bar and landed on the top of the Brazilian net. Guivarc'h had another opportunity three minutes later, when he received a pass from Zidane on the edge of the penalty area and was one-on-one with Taffarel, but his shot under pressure from Júnior Baiano was stopped by the goalkeeper. On 5 minutes, Rivaldo hit a long cross to the far corner of the penalty area towards Leonardo, who could not reach it; the ball went out for a goal kick. France won a free kick a minute later when Cafu fouled Lizarazu, which Zidane curled into the penalty area. It reached Djorkaeff, who was unmarked; he attempted to score with a header, but it went high and wide of the goal. On 17 minutes, Djorkaeff hit a long-range shot from the right-hand side, but it went wide of the Brazilian goal. Five minutes later, Ronaldo received the ball near the touch-line and started running towards goal; from the left-hand edge of the penalty area he passed it to his right. Barthez almost tipped the ball into his own goal but was able to catch it before it crossed the line. Brazil won a corner on 23 minutes, which was taken by Leonardo into the penalty area. Sampaio directed a powerful header towards the goal, but it was aimed straight at Barthez who saved it. Zidane gave France the lead just before the half-hour mark, outjumping Leonardo to connect with a header from an in-swinging corner from the right taken by Petit. Four minutes later, Ronaldo received the ball following a long pass from Dunga, but Barthez punched his shot clear. Ronaldo and Barthez collided with each other during the incident; both needed assistance from medics but were able